PROPOSED BY-LAWS

The LAS Board held a meeting on January 24, 2015 to discuss changes to the LAS By-Laws. The last time they were formally changed was in 1996. There have been several changes with additions and subtractions. Please take time to review the proposed By-Laws and let the Board know of any suggestions, concerns or ideas. The next Board Meeting will be held February 20th.

May 10th – National Astronomy Day at the Planetarium is to be held from 10 AM – 2 PM with Solar Viewing.

May 10 – Curby Public Event and UAC Public Event

Lunar and Planetary report

Don reported on the Young Moons of 2008; April 6, May 5 (Very Difficult), May 6; he will generate a certificate.Project mars report – Don has only heard from Karl.Don showed his report that he generated and is going to our library.

Observatory/Dark Site Report/Building Report

Thanks go to Wes Newton for this $600 donation to be matched by GE.Randall Barber made a donation of $1,000 with another $500 pledge.James Stewart made a donation of $500.

There has been an excel report generated on the 10” scope at Curby; needs new mount.

The 12” has gone crazy; we will replace it with the 10”.Curby needs work on the observatory, needs painting, mold needs to be removed, and the rails are rusting.

The building has a bad concrete floor; we have held $1,000 back from Darrell with the opportunity for him to fix.

The front field has severe ruts and he will level our and plant grass seed.We will close off with yellow tape for now to prevent parking in the area.The field across the street i draining back on us and is making our area so soft.

We are using wafer board and there is a leak around the posts.We used foam for insulation but it is uneven.The concrete is uneven and not smooth; Darrell is working on smoothing and treating this problem.

There are three sets of white lights, four red lamps spaced out.

The restrooms are ADA handicapped accessible.We will wait to tweek the bathrooms.

There is a new German shepherd dog coming up to visit us there, so be aware.

There is a 32” drop on the back of the building, 20” drop at the garage door and a ramp.We will need sidewalks to the garage door and a ramp.Ken made a motion the he would like to have the sidewalk on the N & S side to connect to the ramp for an estimated cost of $550.Ed seconded.Motion Passed unanimously.Ken has permissions to get this done as long as he leaves around $1,500 in the treasury.

The building has a coded lock on the door.

Plumbing and electricity are around $2,500.

We will be a little short of $17,500 on total expenses for our new building.

Elections – May 9th at the UAC

Individuals can nominate or nominate themselves for our officer positions.Mike Sellers will not be available for the April, May or June meetings.

Instrumentation Committee

The 12” Meade will be brought back to the UAC to send back to Meade since we are under a Service contract.May be mechanical or electronically.The 7’ mount will be used for Astrophotography, don may want to use the scope to evaluate the optics.We have a few scopes to sell.Bob Crews gave a short tube for raffle.Jeff McCafferty gave us a 6” CR 150 scope to raffle or sell.Dick Schultz is moving to Wisconsin permanently and he will donate his ETX 125.

Board of Directors

Troy Atwood has resigned due to his work load.Clark Barton has not been able to attend any meetings.Ken made a motion that he recommends John Turack and Darrell Colling to fill these positions.Ed seconded.Motion Passed unanimously.

MISC.

Update Aerial Photo of Curby – Randy will let us know when his plane is back together due to maintenance.

The Board approved a $50 sign saying to not go to the back field – Members Only.

Lunar and Planetary report (Don)The LAS Lunar Landings Star Party at E. P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park Friday night July 20 was a great success thanks to the publicity from Ken Neuhauser and Jim Bulleit from WLKY TV. It was worth getting up at 3:30 AM to go on air at 5:00 AM! We had 15 scopes and over 200 visitors. We had over 100 hikers so we had to divide the crowd into thirds with Tessa Edelen, the park naturalist as one guide, and me and Bo Lowery taking the other groups. We began with a lecture on the evening’s activities in front of the gym.There were three stations along the fitness trail to the observing field with Anthony Minstein on binoculars, Jane and John Liello with a 60mm Nexstar and Galen Lowery showing moon views through a 6″ Dob.The observing field was busy all night. Don Spain had a crowd of 70 at his scope and our crowd estimate for the night was 200+.Troy Atwood stayed at the computer all night repeating the Lunar Landing Sites show. Jann Hall acted as hostess. We brought in over $200 in chances for the 114MM scope donated by Troy.Our guests were flown to the moon to stand where the astronauts stood on July 20, 1969, followed by going to Jupiter. After every show, there was applause and a lot of thank yous.Don Spain and Troy showed the landing sites for Apollo 11, 16, and 17 then our visitors went out into the field to view these sites through member scopes. Those helping in the field wereRandy Beachler, Jay Clark, Don Spain, Rick Whitworth, J.R. Dietrich, Mike Moraghan, Jeff McCaffrey, Susan Radtke, Anthony Minstein, Bo and Galen Lowrey, Don Spain, Bob Crews, Ed Heiny, Greg Miller, Charles O’Hearn and David Thompson. That’s one giant star party for the LAS, the Urban Astronomy Center and E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park! Thanks, Tessa, Jim Bulleit, Ken Neuhauser and all the volunteers who made it possible. By our estimates, our first four star parties have brought 500 guests to the UAC. For August Don has a handout for the total lunar eclipse, starts at 4:00 am, wants people to enter a photo.Jupiter high in the south on the 17th, the UAC is open and Don will send a notice of what will be visible.

Librarians (Greg) New to us bookshelves have been moved and the books are ready to be moved.We will give away not current magazines.

Historian (Karl) Ken heard from a lady that the original Clark was in and will send out more info as he receives it.

Equipment Committee (Ed/Troy/John)We got the great orange crush 12” cast aluminum scope dissembled, and Troy & John cleaned the mirror; it needs to be recoated, same for the 6” finder and needs to be adjusted (both primary and secondary).The mirror coating will be less than $300 at Spectrum.Troy made a motion to get the 12” mirror recoated, seconded by Greg.Motion passed unanimously.Ed will send the mirrors.12” Meade is back and going to Curby tonight and they will bring back the 8”.We still have a few scopes to sell.Mike Monahan finished the Foucault tester and it is working.Ed suggests we sell the observatory for $3,000.

Technology Committee (Troy) Rangers office has internet access, we will see if we can share.Troy will work with Ranger Dave and Chris Head to inquire about sharing.We still need another projector for programs.

Curby Update (Ken) Building wise we are looking at $12,000 – $15,000 with electricity & plumbing.Metal built – 24 W X 36 D X 10 H and insulated for $8,500, $5,000 Building kit, $3,000 assembly.Ken will work with an architect.Ken thinks it will be $11,500 plus electricity, plumbing and foundation.Ken suggests we hold off until spring and work on the design, 3 – 5 weeks to complete the building is what the architect originally thinks.

UAC Update (John)Pat Peak has donated items for the UAC; a partial list includes a sofa, rocker, computer desk, desk lamps, file cabinet, storage boxes, office chair, book shelf, storage cabinet and computer speakers to name a few.These items were picked up by John Turack, Drew Foster, Jim Lindle, Jann Hall and Ed Heiny.Starry Night needs to be purchased for the UAC.

UAC Security (John) Lights have been turned off and John & Troy have been talking with Ranger Dave about security lighting at the center.We can get lights for security at Home Depot with down lighting.Ken will call Chris about lights in the area, John & Ken will meet with Chris.

Yahoo Group (Troy) There is a new e-mail group and Troy has set this up; he is working with Mike Sellers, John Turack.

John Dobson Visit (Ken) John will be hosted by Roger Curry and Dee Ozvath while in Louisville; Lunar Moon is at 1st quarter.He is here from September 23 through September 28th; the public events begin on Tuesday, the 24th and end on Bardstown Road, with a Mile of scopes, on Saturday, the 28th.Lacey Thomas will pick him up and take him to the Land between the Lakes.

MISC (All) Tabled for September – discussion of revision of our current By-Laws to include on-line protocol.

Our picnic will be moved to sometime in September, perhaps Member Night.

We need to look into packets for New Members, Jeff sends out a one page Welcome Letter.